Edited By: Pathikrit Sen Gupta
Last Updated: March 03, 2023, 16:39 IST
The union minister of state for social justice and empowerment said she is ready to take on whatever responsibility the party decides to give her. Pic/News18
The union minister who won the Dhanpur assembly constituency that had been held by the Left since 1977 spoke exclusively with News18
The Dhanpur assembly constituency in Tripura was known as a red bastion. Since 1977, only the Left had won elections here. That all changed when union minister Pratima Bhoumik contested from the seat this time and won it for the Bharatiya Janata Party by more than 3,500 votes.
There have been murmurs in political circles that Pratima may be considered for the chief minister’s post. In an exclusive conversation with News18, the union minister of state for social justice and empowerment said she is ready to take on whatever responsibility the party decides to give her. Edited excerpts:
What would you like to say about your win?
I am from Dhanpur. I have seen how communists have not developed this area, and we have worked in the past five years. People now have understood how the “double engine government” works.
You have been with the BJP for many years and were a prishtha pramukh (grassroots worker) here. How do you see this journey?
It was not easy. We have fought for our party and for the people at large. The people of Tripura have seen a “double engine government”. The credit goes to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s development efforts. This time the opposition tried everything, but still, the development agenda worked.
I contested in 2018…Dhanpur was a red bastion, but the people this time voted for us because of development.
Whatever role the party gives me now, I will take that. It’s the party’s decision. We will work for the development of the people.
Some seats have been lost this time compared to the previous elections. What could be the reason?
The results have just come out and we will definitely analyse all this.
There is a buzz that you could be the new chief minister…
The party has given me a lot. From a farmer’s daughter, I have become a union minister. “Modi hai toh mumkin hai”; that’s why I am here. I am ready for anything that is offered by my party.
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